Dunamase

The Rock of Dunamase rises above the plain of Laois, a steep limestone outcrop crowned by the remains of a formidable castle. Its commanding position made it a stronghold long before the Anglo-Norman arrival in Ireland. In 1170 it passed into a new dynasty as part of the marriage portion of Aoife, daughter of the king of Leinster, when she married Richard de Clare, known as Strongbow. Their daughter Isabel later brought Dunamase to William Marshal, who probably carried out building work on the rock in the early thirteenth century.